After the SEMA Show had ended on Friday, the cars and visitors poured out and made their way across the street to the Platinum Lot of the Las Vegas Convention Center. This was the  home of this year’s SEMA Ignited, where the general public could come by and get a taste of the industry-only show. This was also where we found Yokohama, setting up its semi-trailer display and eager to talk about its latest off-road tire, the X-MT.

Our visit to Yokohama brought us to Fardad Niknam, who shared some details about the aggressive new mud terrain. “These past two years have been great for our off-road offerings,” he said. “We’ve brought to market the Geolandar M/T and now our X-MT, which we’re very proud of.”

The X-MT was indeed a revelation when it was announced this year. “This tire is something we made to appeal to a more extreme crowd,” commented Fardad. “These are the guys who do lots of rockcrawling and need a tire that can get the job done.”

There are several distinguishing features about the tire. One is the high void-to-lug ratio, which allows for more traction and self-cleaning. Another is the side block depth, which is high and helps protect the sidewall during drives through ruts or rocks. Lastly, Yokohama’s Geo-Shield protection uses a full nylon cover, three-ply construction, and thick sidewall to boost its durability.

Another tire new for 2018 (and releasing in 2019) is Yokohama’s X-AT, similar to the X-MT in its intention to be an “extreme” version of its namesake. “It has a three-ply construction, high turn-up on the sidewall, good resistance against punctures, and will perform well for truck and Jeep customers,” said Fardad. “We are looking at a launch between June and July 2019.”

Two new tires, and a whole host of possibilities for the off-road and light truck market – this is what Yokohama’s X-MT and X-AT represent. To find out more, be sure to check out the Yokohama website and Facebook page.